With a vocal home crowd behind it and the potential for an undefeated regular season in front of it, the Greenwich High School boys soccer team wasn't about to let this opportunity go by the wayside.

Patrick Santini scored twice and the rest of Greenwich's talented senior class rose to the occasion too, as the Cardinals quickly responded from a second-half deficit and pulled away for a 4-1 victory over rival Staples in a showdown between FCIAC Western Division powerhouses.

The win raised Greenwich's record to 11-0-1, and was a huge step toward securing the league's regular season championship and top seed in the FCIAC tournament.

It was also the Cardinals' second straight regular-season triumph over the Wreckers, the league's most decorated program.

"They've certainly had their share of success against us over the years," Greenwich coach Kurt Putnam said. "They've become our biggest rival, and I was really proud of how the boys responded. They showed resiliency, and have showed that type of character throughout the season."

After an action-packed but scoreless first half, the Wreckers (8-2-2) finally broke through in the 46th minute on a free kick by Diego Alanis, which was finished off by junior defender Andrew Puchala.

But it wouldn't take the Cardinals long to score the equalizer, which came courtesy of senior Jon Palmer less than three minutes later.

The complexion of the game would change soon thereafter when Staples sophomore goalie Noah Schwaeber left with a possible concussion.

Less than four minutes after Schwaeber's departure, Greenwich got what turned out to be the game-winner on a finish by senior Ryan Flippin, who snuck the ball in just under the crossbar.

"I had a dream about scoring and it felt awesome to come through in that situation," said Flippin, who anchored the Cardinals defense along with Palmer and Will Gittings. "Staples played hard and physical like we knew they would, but we were pretty organized. This was a big win for us."

Mateo Gowland, who had several near misses and was a catalyst to the victory, assisted on Santini's first goal with 14:44 remaining.

Santini then put an exclamation point on the match with 6:23 left off a pass from Sebi Hickman.

"Jon and Ryan got the big goals and I was just able to finish it off," Santini said. "It was a great atmosphere, and we fed off of that. We really wanted to keep our undefeated season going."

Both programs entered the showdown with a healthy amount of respect for one another, and that's exactly how they left Cardinal Stadium.

"I'm not sure the final score was indicative of how competitive the game was for the first 60 minutes or so," said Staples coach Dan Woog, expressing a sentiment also echoed by Putnam. "Psychologically we had to adjust to Noah coming out. He's been a real sparkplug for us. But I give Greenwich a lot of credit. They're a well-coached, senior-dominated team and they came though. Hopefully we'll get a chance to play again in the postseason."